smart

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /smɑɹt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /smɑːt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)t

Etymology 1

From Middle English smerten, from Old English smeortan (“to smart”), from Proto-West Germanic *smertan, from Proto-Germanic *smertaną (“to hurt, ache”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to bite, sting”). Cognate with Scots smert, Dutch smarten, German schmerzen, Danish smerte, Swedish smärta.

Verb

smart (third-person singular simple present smarts, present participle smarting, simple past smarted or (obsolete) smort, past participle smarted or (obsolete) smorten)

1. (intransitive) To hurt or sting.

   After being hit with a pitch, the batter exclaimed "Ouch, my arm smarts!"

   • 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 21, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:

     He moved convulsively, and as he did so, said, "I'll be quiet, Doctor. Tell them to take off the strait waistcoat. I have had a terrible dream, and it has left me so weak that I cannot move. What's wrong with my face? It feels all swollen, and it smarts dreadfully."

2. (transitive) To cause a smart or sting in.
   • a. 1652, Thomas Adams, Faith’s Encouragement:

     A goad that […] smarts the flesh.

3. (intransitive) To feel a pungent pain of mind; to feel sharp pain or grief; be punished severely; to feel the sting of evil.
   • 1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: J Wright for Lawton Gilliver , →OCLC, page 5, lines 81–82:

     You think this cruel? take it for a rule, / No creature ſmarts ſo little as a Fool.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Proverbs 11:15:

     He that is ſurety for a ſtranger ſhall ſmart for it.

   • 1790, [Ann Radcliffe], chapter XI, in A Sicilian Romance. , volume II, London: T Hookham, , →OCLC, page 85:

     Meanvvhile the Abate exulted in ſucceſsful vengeance, and the marquis ſmarted beneath the ſtings of diſappointment.

Derived terms

• arsesmart
• besmart
• nosesmart
• smartful
• smarting
• smartweed

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English smert, smart, from Old English smeart (“smarting, smart, painful”), from Proto-Germanic *smartaz (“hurting, aching”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to bite, sting”). Cognate with Scots smert (“painful, smart”), Old Frisian smert (“sharp, painful”).

Adjective

smart (comparative smarter or more smart, superlative smartest or most smart)

1. Exhibiting social ability or cleverness.

   Synonyms: bright, capable, sophisticated, witty

   Antonyms: backward, banal, boorish, dull, inept

   • 1811, [Jane Austen], chapter 19, in Sense and Sensibility , volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: C Roworth, , and published by T Egerton, , →OCLC:

     I always preferred the church, and I still do. But that was not smart enough for my family. They recommended the army. That was a great deal too smart for me.

2. (informal) Exhibiting intellectual knowledge, such as that found in books.

   Synonyms: cultivated, educated, learned; see also Thesaurus:learned

   Antonyms: ignorant, uncultivated, simple

4. (often in combination) Equipped with intelligent behaviour (digital/computer technology).

   Antonym: dumb

   smart car

   smartcard

   smartphone

   • 2018 December 18, Joe Pinsker, “The Coming Commodification of Life at Home”, in The Atlantic‎:

     “Imagine this,” says an advertising consultant named Barry Lowenthal. “I’m a smart toaster, and I’m collecting data on how many times the toaster is used.”

5. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (technology, of human users) Able to see through a false positive of a digital / computer technology equipped with intelligent behavior.

   Sometimes, you are smarter than Microsoft Word's grammar checker, which occasionally flags legitimate sentences as being incorrect.

7. Good-looking; well dressed; fine; fashionable.

   Synonyms: attractive, chic, dapper, stylish, handsome

   Antonyms: garish, outré, tacky

   a smart outfit

   You look smart in that business suit.

8. Cleverly shrewd and humorous in a way that may be rude and disrespectful.

   Synonym: silly

   He became tired of his daughter's sarcasm and smart remarks.

   Don't get smart with me!

   • 1728, Edward Young, Satire:

     Who, for the poor renown of being smart / Would leave a sting within a brother's heart?

   • 1711 October 1 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “THURSDAY, September 20, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 175; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, , volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

     I played a sentence or two at my butt, which I thought very smart, when my ill genius, who I verily believed inspired him purely for my destruction, suggested to him such a reply

     The spelling has been modernized.

9. Sudden and intense.
   • 1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, “(please specify |book=I to XVI)”, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the Theater, published 1707, →OCLC:

     smart skirmishes, in which many fell

   • 1860 July 9, Henry David Thoreau, journal entry, from Thoreau's bird-lore, Francis H. Allen (editor), Houghton Mifflin (Boston, 1910), Thoreau on Birds: notes on New England birds from the Journals of Henry David Thoreau, Beacon Press, (Boston, 1993), page 239:

     There is a smart shower at 5 P.M., and in the midst of it a hummingbird is busy about the flowers in the garden, unmindful of it, though you would think that each big drop that struck him would be a serious accident.

10. Causing sharp pain; stinging.
    • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

      How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience.

11. Sharp; keen; poignant.

    a smart pain

12. (Southern US, dated) Intense in feeling; painful. Used usually with the adverb intensifier right.

    He raised his voice, and it hurt her feelings right smart.

    That cast on his leg chaffs him right smart.

13. (archaic) Efficient; vigorous; brilliant.
    • 1697, Virgil, “Georgic 1”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. , London: Jacob Tonson, , →OCLC:

      The stars shine smarter.

14. (archaic) Pretentious; showy; spruce.

    a smart gown

15. (archaic) Brisk; fresh.

    a smart breeze

16. (Appalachia) Hard-working.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Danish: smart
• → German: smart
• → Norwegian:
  • Norwegian Bokmål: smart
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: smart
• → Swedish: smart

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English smerte, from smerten (“to smart”); see above. Cognate with Scots smert, Dutch smart, Low German smart, German Schmerz, Danish smerte, Swedish smärta. More above.

Noun

smart (plural smarts)

1. A sharp, quick, lively pain; a sting.
   • 1567, Ovid, “(please specify the book number or chapter)”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, , London: Willyam Seres , →OCLC:

     […] the bodie had no smart / Of any wound: it was the minde that felt the cruell stings.

   • 1715–1720, Homer, [Alexander] Pope, transl., “Book 5”, in The Iliad of Homer, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: W Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott , →OCLC, page 25, lines 176-178:

     If chance some Shepherd with a distant Dart / The Savage wound, he rowzes at the Smart, / He foams, he roars […]

   • 1871, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, chapter 12, in Little Men: , Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC:

     Of course Tommy came to grief, tumbled upon a hornets’ nest and got stung; but being used to woe, he bore the smart manfully […]

   • 1948, Graham Greene, chapter 1, in The Heart of the Matter‎, London: Heinemann, Book One, Part One, section 8, page 42:

     The smart of his wounded hand woke Scobie at two in the morning.

2. Mental pain or suffering; grief; affliction.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 101:

     Mishaps are maistred by aduice discrete, / And counsell mitigates the greatest smart; / Found neuer help, who neuer would his hurts impart.

   • 1624 (date written), John Milton, “On the Death of a Fair Infant Dying of a Cough”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: Tho Dring , →OCLC, page 20:

     But oh why didst thou not stay here below / To bless us with thy heav’n lov’d innocence, […] / To stand ’twixt us and our deserved smart / But thou canst best perform that office where thou art.

   • 1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter VIII, in Great Expectations , volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, , published October 1861, →OCLC, page 130:

     I was so humiliated, hurt, spurned, offended, angry, sorry,—I cannot hit upon the right name for the smart—God knows what its name was,—that tears started to my eyes.

   • 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 9, in The Line of Beauty , 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

     […] Bertrand said, ‘No, you bloody idiot, do you think I drink this? I want mineral water.’ The girl recoiled for just a second at the smart of his tone […] and then apologized with steely insincerity.

3. Smart-money.
4. (slang, dated) A dandy; one who is smart in dress; one who is brisk, vivacious, or clever.
   • 1742, Henry Fielding, “In which the Gentleman Relates the History of His Life”, in The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews, and of His Friend Mr. Abraham Adams. , volume II, London: A Millar, , →OCLC, book III, page 36:

     […] I reſolved to quit all further Converſation vvith Beaus and Smarts of all kinds, […]

Derived terms

• smartful

Anagrams

• MSTAR, marts, stram, tarms, trams

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English smart.

Adjective

smart (neuter smart, plural and definite singular attributive smarte, comparative smartere, superlative (predicative) smartest, superlative (attributive) smarteste)

1. (of a solution, contraption, plan etc.) well thought-out, neat
2. snazzy, fashionable, dapper

Derived terms

• oversmart

Dutch

Alternative forms

• smert (dialectal)

Etymology

From Middle Dutch smarte, from Old Dutch , from Proto-West Germanic , from or related to the verb *smertan (whence smarten). Cognates include German Schmerz, English smart.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /smɑrt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: smart
• Rhymes: -ɑrt

Noun

smart f (plural smarten)

1. pain, sorrow, grief

Usage notes

• Other than in the saying met smart, the word is nowadays considered to be dated.

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• Negerhollands: smert, smerte

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English smart, 19th c.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /smaːɐ̯t/, /smaʁt/

• (file)

Adjective

smart (strong nominative masculine singular smarter, comparative smarter, superlative am smartesten)

1. smart (exhibiting social ability or cleverness)

   Synonyms: aufgeweckt, clever, gewitzt, pfiffig

   • 1862, “Amerikanische Zwangsmaßregel”, in Die Gartenlaube‎, number 20, page 320:

     Während in New York und andern östlichen Städten der einfachste kürzeste Proceßgang darin besteht, ist in vielen der westlichen Staaten ein „smarter“ Miether im Stande, fast noch ein Jahr nach geschehener Aufkündigung ein Haus zu bewohnen, ohne nur einen Pfennig Miethe zu zahlen.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1910, Walther Kabel, Der schlafende Fakir‎:

     Da vertraute ich mich meinem Chef, Herrn William Hawkens, an, der ein viel zu smarter Geschäftsmann ist, als daß er nicht das nötige Verständnis für diese unter Umständen recht einträgliche Idee gehabt hätte.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2017, Rechtsanwalt Dr. Thomas M. Grupp, Maître en droit (Aix-Marseille III), “Entwicklungen im Umfeld einer Rechts- und Gerichtsstandswahl in Zeiten von Brexit”, in Europäische Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsrecht (EuZW)‎, number 24, page 977:

     Die ersichtlichen Bemühungen, einen smarteren Ausstieg aus der EU zu erreichen, decken sich mit den beiden eingangs schon erwähnten Positionspapieren, die von der britischen Regierung im August 2017 zu Themen einer grenzüberschreitenden zivilgerichtlichen Zusammenarbeit und zur Rechtsdurchsetzung und Streitlösung (Dispute Resolution) veröffentlicht worden sind.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. smart (good-looking, well-dressed)

   Synonyms: chic, elegant, fein

Declension

Further reading

• “smart” in Duden online
• “smart” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Maltese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /smart/

Verb

smart

1. first/second-person singular perfect of smar

Middle English

Adjective

smart

1. Alternative form of smert

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From English smart.

Adjective

smart (neuter singular smart, definite singular and plural smarte, comparative smartere, indefinite superlative smartest, definite superlative smarteste)

1. clever (mentally sharp or bright)
2. smart

Derived terms

• smartklokke
• smarttelefon

References

• “smart” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From English smart.

Adjective

smart (neuter singular smart, definite singular and plural smarte, comparative smartare, indefinite superlative smartast, definite superlative smartaste)

1. clever (mentally sharp or bright)
2. smart

Derived terms

• smartklokke
• smarttelefon

References

• “smart” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Spanish

Adjective

smart (invariable)

1. smart (with smart technology)

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English smart.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

smart (comparative smartare, superlative smartast)

1. smart; clever

   Antonym: osmart

Declension

Derived terms

• gatusmart
• smartskaft

References

• smart in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• smart in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• smart in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• tarms, trams